The GR II - Not the New Camera I Was Expecting

I have been lusting after a new camera for a couple of months. I wanted go full frame and mirrorless. Pretty much the only name in that game right now is Sony. They have a tasty piece of gear in the A7 R III which I’ve not heard bad things about from really anyone. The only beef people seem to have with it is battery life. It has a tn of great features and is reviewed and talked about all over so I won’t go on about it and I’ve not given up on the upgrade. Just waiting on a better time to do it. My Canon 70D is holding me up just fine right now.

What I have found is that I feel very uncomfortable walking around the city, any city, with a big DSLR hanging off my neck. People look at you, people shy away if you want to grab a street shot, and less annoying but distracting, people gravitate toward someone with a DSLR to hand you their camera to take their picture. I really don’t mind that last one, but it does sometimes break my concentration a bit. So I started poking around at “point and shoot” cameras and quickly found the high praise for the Ricoh GR II to be pretty universal. I’ll link a couple of videos below. The price was right, around $500 and the size was killer. It is smaller than my iPhone 7 plus and is easy to use one handed with a little proper setup. I pulled the trigger, even knowing that a new version was due soon.

It arrived Friday and I’ve had a bit of a chance to shoot with it. Nothing spectacular, but I’m really happy with the quick snaps. I can’t wait to get to a big city and really test it out. One thing I always do with new gear is grab some shots of my pack.

And a couple of tests including a double exposure. The double exposure got me thinking about a possible “project” and I am going to see where that leads too.

The following videos are from a couple of YouTube channels I follow.

Vegas and Not Vegas

Keri and I found a window when we could both get away and we decided to hit Las Vegas. We’ve both been and it had been a long time since either of us had gone. We like food and she REALLY likes to try new things (I do too, but it is really her passion). Vegas seemed like this place to go.

I pretty much packed my full photography kit and ended up only getting it out once. Our room was not conducive to shooting a time lapse with the GoPro so it stayed in the bag. We spent most of our time walking around the strip and I did not really want to drag my DSLR all over so in the bad it stayed too. My primary reason for taking the big backpack was a possible run out to the Grand Canyon.

We picked one day to rent a car and drive out. Let’s just say that was poor planning on my part. A lack of research lead to not getting any shots of the canyon. I picked driving to the Skywalk, a mistake for a photographer. You can only get to eagle point and the skywalk via a tour. The cheapest of which is $70 a head. Notes on the pamphlet also tell you no bags or cameras. We had a nice drive out there and back at least. I did catch this out of the corner of my eye and pulled over to try to get something.

Our backup plan was Hoover Dam and that turned out to be a nice stop. For whatever reason it wasn’t busy and you can once again take a short tour down to the turbine room. the hallway from the elevator yielded a nice shot too.

Savannah - The Last Day First

Keri and I took a trip to Savannah, GA this week and had a great time. Lots of food and just wandering around the historic district. So many excellent places to check out and the Victorian architecture, well, it gets photographed and hyped for good reason. This was the first trip Keri and I have taken together without some other agenda attached. Just the two of us headed somewhere with no real agenda. We've been on other trips together, but those have been tied to family which were great. We were due.

The last day we rolled out of the excellent hotel and to one of what could be the most photographed roads in the south. Located in the Wormsloe State Historic Site, the avenue is lined with live oaks dripping with Spanish moss (not actually moss). 

Wormsloe Avenue

This history of the site was very interesting, not really all that photographic, but interesting. However, there are several trails to hike through the cedar and live oak forest and along the salt marsh. Lots of palmetto and cabbage palms as well. This was the part of the 4 day trip where I really took the time to concentrate on the camera and take some pretty good photos. I did still use the iPhone as well and there will be a few of those dropped into the post below too. 

The Salt Marsh

Wormsloe Tabby Ruin

A Day in DC

I recently got a chance to run down to the National Gallery for an afternoon while on a trip to attend a wedding in Maryland. I took a few pics, but these three seem to share a theme.

Iceland - Pool of Blue

One of my favorite hikes and waterfalls of my trip to Iceland in October of 2016. The series of falls is Gjáin just a short hike from Stöng, ruins of a Viking era longhouse. It was a rough drive over some pretty rocky roads, but very worth it. Sadly we got there late enough in the day that the head lamps left in the 4x4 were missed and we had to bail before full sunset. This is one of those places I could have spent a whole day exploring and setting up shots.